How to Veganize Your Recipes in 4 Easy Steps

Whether you’re a vegan food fan or just want to cut down on animal-based foods, it may be helpful to know a few tips for converting your regular recipes into vegan recipes. Here are our 4 best tips.

1. Replace the meat

The ideal substitute for meat is tofu, because it offers the same amount of iron and protein, and can be prepared in many different ways. A chameleon ingredient, it takes the taste of the other foods with which it is mixed. Tempeh, which is obtained from fermented soybeans, is gaining more and more ground as a meat replacement, among other things because it has a similar texture.

On the market there are also “meat-like” products, based on soy protein and gluten, which are already offered in the form of patties or as “veggie meat crumbles”.

2. Replace the dairy products

We are spoiled with choices in milk-replacement options: almond, rice, hemp, soy, etc., but it’s only soy beverage that has a similar protein content. For yogurt, you’ll find soy or coconut milk yogurts on the market, but remember that you can always make your own homemade version from a box of bacterial cultures or strains.

Specialty stores offer good choices of dairy-free vegan cheeses, often made from cashews or other nuts, and mixed with herbs and/or spices. The choice also depends on the recipe in which you want to use it. For example, to replace cheese in a gratin (scalloped potatoes), we recommend nutritional yeast, which gives a creamy effect with a small taste of hazelnut. As a bonus, it also increases the protein content of the dish.